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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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I picked right.
I thought as I looked around the cave with a bluish glow.
This was one of the dungeons I had intended to clear to earn Millia’s tuition fees.
The dungeon’s name was… what was it again?
Anyway, the name wasn’t important, so let’s move on.
It was just a place slightly more difficult than the dungeon with the hob goblins.
“It’s damp…”
“The humidity is no joke, huh?”
“The monsters that have settled in this dungeon are orcs and lizardmen.”
“That’s an odd combination.”
It really was odd.
It was rare for orcs and lizardmen, who are usually hostile to each other, to appear together.
But that was why this dungeon was good.
They left behind by-products while fighting each other.
“Elisa.”
“Y-yes?”
“Are you ready to take screenshots?”
We needed to take dynamic photos so Elisa could get a high score in, what was it again?
Dungeon Exploration Studies? Or was it Investigation Studies?
Anyway, enough to make the professor in charge fall over in surprise.
That might make the other groups who didn’t accept Elisa see her in a new light.
Elisa’s connections are awesome!
She managed to clear a new dungeon just for an assignment!
If we could prove Elisa’s abilities with impressive results, wouldn’t people’s perceptions of her change a little?
…Honestly, I couldn’t guarantee that this alone would solve her antisocial tendencies to any significant degree.
She was timid even in front of the female student who cared for her despite her dangerous appearance, not backing down despite Elisa’s fears.
How much worse must she be in front of others?
Still, we couldn’t do nothing, so we were at least doing this.
I left Elisa, who was looking around nervously by the entrance, and secretly motioned for Sif to come over.
When I called her quietly, Sif closed her mouth tightly and approached me, whispering in a voice low enough that Elisa couldn’t hear.
“…What are you planning this time?”
“It’s about Elisa. Don’t you think it’d be better to build up her confidence a little?”
“…What does that have to do with this dungeon?”
“Well, you see…”
I quickly explained the plan before Elisa could approach with her scared face.
After hearing my plan, Sif looked at me as if to say “Does that make any sense?”, but seeing my persuasive face, she nodded resignedly.
As always, she held out all her fingers.
“5 gold coins.”
“Um, excuse me…”
“2 gold coins.”
“4.”
“3.”
“Okay. Elisa! Can you give me the screenshot device for a moment?”
“The s-screenshot device?”
“We need to take photos. I’ll do it for you!”
Sif snatched the screenshot device from Elisa’s hands before she could say anything and examined it.
Has she ever used one of these before?
“Do you know how to use that?”
“Of course! I’ve handled one before!”
“You’re holding it upside down right now.”
“Ah. It’s just been a while since I’ve touched one!”
I turned my gaze away from Sif, who was blushing and quickly correcting her hold on the device, and looked down at the fidgeting Elisa.
Was it because we had entered the dungeon?
Or was it due to the sudden situation?
Elisa was looking back and forth between Sif and me with a face that seemed like she might faint at any moment.
“Elisa.”
“Yes…?”
“Let’s take one shot for now. Stand on the stairs by the entrance.”
“A s-screenshot?”
I nodded silently.
Elisa walked hesitantly towards the entrance and stood there awkwardly.
As soon as I confirmed that Elisa was in the position I had indicated, I walked over and stood beside her.
“Sif! Get ready to take the shot!”
“Got it! But Johann, kneel down! The height difference is too big, I can’t fit you both in the lens!”
Was it because there was almost a two-head difference in height?
I carefully knelt down and spoke to Elisa, who was trembling like a frightened kitten.
“We need to take a screenshot, so relax your expression. You weren’t planning to take the screenshot with that face, were you?”
“Ah, yes…”
Elisa smiled with a face that was clearly better than before.
It was a smile that looked like she was being forced to smile at knifepoint by a murderer.
Feeling like I had become a criminal, I deliberately turned my gaze forward and forced a smile.
“Good! Stay just like that! One, two, three!”
Click.
A familiar yet strange, nostalgic sound echoed through the dungeon.
I felt a sense of nostalgia at the flash of light that assaulted my eyes after so long, and looked at the photo emerging from the screenshot device.
It was a strange feeling to have an instant camera in a fantasy-like setting.
“Did it come out well?”
Sif shook her head as she looked at the photo.
It seemed the photo didn’t come out well.
“Elisa closed her eyes! Let’s take another one!”
“I-I’m sorry!”
“No need to apologize. Usually, you take several photos and choose the best one.”
“I-is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Alright! I’m going to take another one, so pay attention! Look this way, this way!”
At Sif’s call, I adjusted my posture again and put a smile on my face.
Taking a photo after so long brought back old memories.
Before transmigrating, I had taken photos while traveling with friends, photos with my parents, and even photos of cats on the street.
Now they were just faded memories, but humans were creatures that lived on memories.
I gratefully consumed this bittersweet snack of suddenly surfacing memories.
“Now! Look this way! One! Two! Three!”
Click.
The sound of the photo being taken tickled my ears repeatedly.
My eyes hurt from the flash, but I tried hard not to close them.
After about five flashes like this, Sif approached me with the printed photos.
“Isn’t this good enough?”
“Hmm…”
I took the stack of photos from Sif and examined them one by one.
In them Elisa wore a tense face and I had a subtle smile on my face.
We looked like country bumpkins taking their first photo.
Still, we managed to capture a somewhat realistic photo, so I guess we should keep it. I handed the photos back to Sif and said,
“Keep them safe.”
“Okay~”
“We’ve already delayed a lot, so let’s depart right away.”
“Finally, we’re setting out~ I hope there’s a lot of money~”
Her eyes were rolling again.
I was looking at Sif, who had a happy expression at the thought of making money, when I noticed Elisa gently tugging at my sleeve.
I looked down at her.
Elisa spoke to me with an expression full of anxiety.
“Um… C-couldn’t we… just leave now…?”
“What are you saying, Elisa?”
“B-but isn’t it d-dangerous for just the three of us in a dungeon…?”
What Elisa said was extremely logical.
It was a sort of unwritten rule to form parties of at least four people when entering a dungeon.
At least, I had never seen an adventurer going alone among those I had observed.
“Don’t worry too much. I won’t die.”
I had survived all sorts of hardships on the deserted island for 10 years.
I could proudly say that, if nothing else, I was better at survival than anyone.
To be blunt, I was confident I could survive even if I encountered a dragon.
So I wouldn’t die in a dungeon that wasn’t particularly difficult, one that I could destroy and escape from at any time.
Not unless I wanted to.
“B-but I’m just a b-burden-”
“Don’t think of yourself as a burden. You’re a witch. That alone is enough reason to have confidence.”
To begin with, as in most fantasies, magicians and witches were rare and expensive high-level talents.
Just revealing that you were a magician would make people look at you with admiring gazes.
Especially as a magic department student at Kalon Academy, that position alone was enough to be called elite.
There was no need to be so timid.
To put it bluntly, it was a position where even being a bit arrogant would be understandable.
The reason Elisa, who was in such a position, had become an asocial person who could barely speak a word was probably due to the nightmares of her past.
A past related to her origins.
…Maybe I should have asked Professor Lennon about it, but I didn’t feel right prying into others’ circumstances, so I’d wait for Elisa to tell me herself.
If we became close, she would probably tell me directly.
Emerging from my thoughts, I glanced at Elisa out of the corner of my eye.
Her body was curled up like a pill bug and her face looked like it might burst into tears if poked with a finger and yet, her thin hand was still gripping my sleeve.
I couldn’t tell if I was accompanying a grown adult or a child.
“Elisa. If monsters appear, hide behind me. Understood?”
“Y-yes…”
“Sif. Don’t participate in combat, just guard the area around Elisa. If enemies approach from behind, let me know.”
“Got it. Come on, Elisa, this way!”
“Ah, b-but-”
I flexed my now free hand to loosen it up, and gripped the shovel I had been carrying on my back.
If my faint memories from before transmigrating were correct, enemies should appear soon.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on the sounds.
Even with a light source, we couldn’t see far, so it was better to rely on smell and hearing.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip…
The sound of water droplets filled my ears.
But as I got used to that sound, another sound mixed in with the dripping became clearer.
“The first floor is a damp cave. The second floor is a slimy swamp. The third floor is…”
They’re coming.
I sharpened all my senses for the impending battle.
As my senses heightened, the muscles of my body, which had been devoted to labor for quite a long time, began to slowly awaken the memories of struggle ingrained over 10 years.
Footsteps.
Five of them.
“Sif. Get ready to take screenshots.”
Let’s see about catching some half-baked snake brats.
I gripped my shovel tightly.
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[damn ngl i didnt expect the other girl to be nice thought she was gonna get a shovel to the face]
